Lubricator



(NoModel.) S. I-I. JENKS.

Lubrioator.

No. 231,426. Patented Aug. 24,1880.

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STILLMAN H. JENKS, OF IONIA, MICHIGAN.

LUBRICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,426, dated August 24, 1880.

Application tiled June 17, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STILLMAN H.YJENKs, ot' Ionia, in Ionia county and State ot' Michigan, have invented au Improved Automatic Oil-Cup or Lubricator for Stean1-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to furnish an automatic lubricator that can be adjusted by outside appliances to vary the quantity of oil or other lubricant supplied to the engine while under full head of steam without necessitating the opening of the oil-cup, asin those heretofore used; and it consists in the arrangement ot' a sleeve or sliding tube having a side opening, which may be raised or lowered within a conical chamber by turning a knob or other device on the outer extremity of said sleeve-tube, whereby it is screwed up or down, thus varying the capacity of the condensingchamber between its apex and the dischargeaperture in the sliding extension of the central tube from a large area to a minimum size, and thereby regulating the quantity of lubricant supplied correspondingly. The stem of this sleeve-tube is graduated and provided with an index to show the position ofthe discharge-aperture within the cone-chamber.

In the accompanying drawing, which represents a central vertical section of my iniproved lubricator, A represents the oil-chamber, which is for the most part ot' cylindrical form, and its upper portion, A', is conical for purposes hereinafter specified. In the lower end ot' this chamber is iitted a plug, B, eX- tending centrally upward about four-fifths the height ofthe chamber. Through this plug is a passage, af, from its upper to its lower eX- tremity, as represented by dotted lines. This passage is controlled by the screw-valve G, and another passage, c, controlled by the screw-valve D, communicates with the lower portion of the chamber A. These screw-valves are each provided with a stuffing-box, E, to prevent leakage around the stems. The lower extremity, B', of this plug is to be connected by screw or otherwise to the valve-box or cylinder-head of the steam-engine.

At the apex of the cone A' is screwed a plug, G, through which passes a screw-stem, H, provided with a knob or other suitable device, I, at its upper end, by which it may be screwed up or down, as desired. It is also provided With a stuffing-box, L, to prevent leakage. The lower portion, h, of this stem forms a sleeve, titting steam-tight over and around the upper cylindrical portion of the plug B, and has a central and side passage, a, communicating with the passage a through said plug. To the plug G is attached, by three or more arms, g, a ring or rim, g', by which it may be screwed in or out ot the cone A', and to one of these arms is attached an index, m, to show the position of the side opening, a, within the cone by pointing to one of a series of graduation-marks around the stem H.

In using this apparatus, first close the valves C D, remove the plug G, and fill the chamber A with oil or other lubricant to near the base oi' the cone A', and replace the plug G. Then open the valve C, and at every stroke of the piston of the engine a jet of steam will pass up the passage c a into the cone, and, condensing there, will sink to the bottom, raising the oil in the chamber until it reaches the aperture a, when it will begin to feed down into the engine-cylinder, the quantity supplied to which may be regulated by turning the knob I, to raise or lower the sleeve h, until the aperture a is in the desired position within the cone. No oil will pass down until its surface is level with said aperture a, and then the quantity will be equivalentto the quantity ot' water produced by condensation of the steam injected into the cone at each stroke of the piston, the capacity of which, it will be seen, may benicely adjusted.

When theoilis all exhausted the valve U may be closed, the water ot condensation drawn oft' by opening the valve D, and the chamber refilled with oil, as before described, without stop-ping the engine.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The sleeve-tube h, made vertically adjustable while under steam-pressure by external appliances, in combination with the fixed tube B, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The conical condensing-chamber A', in combination with the sleeve-tube h, made adjustable from the outside, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

, STILLMAN H. JENKS.

Witnesses:

C. O. THoMPsoN, E. E. HALL.

IOO 

